You Thought Inflation Was Bad? Meet Property Taxes: The Subscription You Can’t Cancel

Welcome back to Notorious Friday Night Posse Rants, Raves & Real Talk, where we tackle the things Big Media pretends are “normal.” This week, we zero in on the one bill that sticks with you longer than high school debt, bad tattoos, and that mall haircut you regret: property taxes.

If you own a home — congratulations. You’re not rich. You’ve just bought a lifetime subscription to rent from the government. And there’s no cancel button.

Let’s break this down like you’re staring at your property tax bill after the third beer.

🏠 Property Taxes Are Exploding Everywhere

Here’s the real magic trick of modern homeownership:

• Between 2021 and 2023, property taxes across the U.S. rose a national average of 10.4%. That’s right — not once, not yearly, but cumulatively. That’s about $247 more per month for the average homeowner.

• CoreLogic reports show property tax payments nationally jumped 5.5% from 2023 to 2024 and are up about 27.4% since 2019. You heard that right: almost 30% in five years.

• In Tampa, property taxes spiked 23.3% in just two years, headlining one of the biggest metro increases in the nation.

It’s almost like property taxes were designed to follow home prices… because they literally are.

🧠 The Cold Truth: Property Taxes Fund Everything but Your Sanity

According to the Tax Foundation, property taxes make up a staggering 27.4% of all state and local tax revenue in America.

So, while you’re over here paying for:

• Roads

• Schools

• Local garbage services

• And the mayor’s latest “renewal project”

Your government is happily counting your cash like a carnival owner counting ticket stubs while you wander the grounds.

You don’t own your home. You’re leasing it from the county — with interest.

🔥 States With the Most Brutal Bills

Let’s compare:

Highest effective property tax rates:

• New Jersey ~2.23%

• Illinois ~2.07%

• Connecticut ~1.92%

In places like these, the average homeowner might be writing checks that feel more like mortgage payments than “local services contributions.”

Meanwhile, some southern and western states offer relative relief:

Lowest rates include:

• Hawaii ~0.27%

• Alabama ~0.38%

• South Carolina ~0.51%

But even low rates don’t always help if the assessed value is based on market prices that shot up like a bitcoin chart in 2021.

Is Anything Changing?

In some states, lawmakers actually heard the homeowners yelling and said:

“We might have gone too far.”

Efforts are underway in places like Florida, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to reduce property tax burdens.

In Georgia, GOP legislators threw down a plan to phase out most property taxes by 2032, raising homestead exemptions and planning to eliminate the tax altogether for many homeowners.

That’s political music to people who feel like they’re just renting from the county at this point.

📊 Why It Feels Worse Than Inflation

Here’s the sneaky part:

Property taxes aren’t just creeping. They’re often linked to assessed value, which rises when home prices rise. And since home values shot up nearly 27% faster than inflation since 2020, your tax bill followed right along with it — even if your salary stagnated.

So, while the government says “inflation is cooling,” your home tax bill says:

“Hold my escalation clause.”

🙄 The Owner Paradox

You expect bills to go up for:

• Cable TV (RIP)

• Health insurance

• Avocado toast inflation

But property taxes?

That thing is supposed to be stable — tied to schools and roads, right?

Except when your neighbor puts in a landscaping project… guess what?

Your assessed home value nudges up too.

And if you protest the assessment?

Good luck with that.

🔥 Conservative Takeaway

Here’s the NFNP summary of the situation:

Property taxes are:

• Mandatory

• Increasing faster than most incomes

• Based on assessments tied to volatile markets

• Something you never truly pay off

• Practically impossible to escape without leaving the county

You don’t own your house.

You’re an involuntary landlord to your own local government.

And the worst part?

They keep asking for rent every year with a smile.

🎙 Final Thought

They told us property taxes were just part of owning a home.

They said the money funds community basics.

What they didn’t admit?

Property taxes are a lifetime subscription nobody asked for.

You can cancel Netflix.
You can cancel Spotify.
You can even cancel That Weird Gym Membership You Forgot About.

But you can’t cancel property tax.

That’s not ownership.

That’s permanent membership to the Government Club.

📚 Sources & References

Realtor.com – National Property Tax Increases (2021–2023 Data)
https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/10-metros-highest-property-tax/

CoreLogic / National Mortgage Professional – Property Tax Growth Since 2019
https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/property-taxes-surging-once-affordable-states

Business Insider – Metro-Level Property Tax Increases (Tampa Example)
https://www.businessinsider.com/the-metros-with-least-and-most-expensive-property-taxes-2025-5

Tax Foundation – Property Taxes as Share of State & Local Revenue
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/property-taxes-by-state-county/

Rocket Mortgage – Effective Property Tax Rates by State
https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/property-taxes-by-state

SmartAsset – States with Lowest Property Tax Rates
https://smartasset.com/taxes/lowest-property-tax-states

LiveNOW from FOX – State-Level Property Tax Reform Efforts
https://www.livenowfox.com/news/lawmakers-several-states-pursuing-property-tax-reform-measures

https://www.livenowfox.com/money/stop-property-taxes-states-realtor

Tax Foundation Research – Property Tax Relief & Assessment Trends
https://taxfoundation.org/research/state-tax/property-tax-relief/